Police called to keep order at IndyMac Bank branches

July 16, 2008|By TRIBUNE NEWSPAPERS: Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES — Police were dispatched to IndyMac Bank branches in suburban Los Angeles on Tuesday morning when customers waiting to withdraw money became irate after several people tried to cut in line on the second day of the failed institution's federal takeover.

As many as 80 people were waiting outside the Encino, Calif., branch when several people tried to cut in line, officer April Harding said.

As the morning wore on, customers leaned over a metal railing separating them from a row of security guards and yelled complaints. The main point of contention surrounded a sign-up list that was started late Monday after many customers gave up and left for the day.

"He promised us there would not be a list," one woman yelled at a security guard.

Order was quickly restored at the branch and private security guards stood watch, with police acting as backup. By 9:30 a.m., there were more than 100 customers waiting in two lines, one for people who had put their names on the list Monday and one for everyone else.